"We may well be the future of rock 'n' roll, but so what? When I go back to Dublin, to my girlfriend it's more of a distraction that I'm in a band than any big deal -- and my old man shouts at me for not doing the dishes before I go to bed."
-- Bono, 1982

i went to Dublin in May to see the wombats at the academy, and being a huge fan of U2 and having a bit of Irish in me and never being to Ireland it was sort of like a pilgrimage if you like

where I went over the weekend I didn't really see anything U2 related in the way of posters or 'abusing their image' is concerned. my hotel was literally next to the Clarence, but I never saw Bono or Edge stepping out for a cigarette. there was a record shop just down the road for the Clarence round the back streets with loads of u2 stuff but there was one down the road next to the Liffy which really was a treasure trove of U2 singles/albums/posters/anything whereas the other one seemed to have tons of U2 stuff but wasn't shouting it from the rooftops.

As for hearing their music, I heard A Man And A Woman when my girlfriend and I were in a pub, which was pretty cool, love that song... but that was it haha

i didn't want to seem like a nerd and ask anyone in the record shops or anything about it as i'm sure they got it all the time. there was nothing out of the ordinary about dublin where I went where U2 are concered as opposed to Liverpool where my Dad said they just milk it for all it's worth.